Orana Industry and Employment Analysis

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Orana Industry and Employment Analysis
Presented by the Western Research Institute

• 30 April 2004

• Commissioned by the Orana Development and
  Employment Council and supported by funding from
• The Australian Government under its Regional
  Partnership Programme and
• The NSW Department of State and Regional
  Development

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Contents

• Project Background
• Methodology
• Results
• How this information can be used

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Background

• Objective
• To provide ODEC with comprehensive information
  regarding the issues surrounding industry and
  employment in the Orana region.
• Why?
• Information is key in knowledge based economy
• Synthesise data into a meaningful format (CD)
• Analysis provides information for strategic
  decision making

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Methodology

• Data from the 1991, 1996 and 2001 ABS Census was
  collected and analysed to explore issues
  surrounding
• Population
• Income levels
• Education
• Employment / Unemployment (Indigenous as well as
  entire population)
• Industry

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Methodology

• Detailed industry data was also gathered from the
  1996 and 2001 Census to examine shifts in
  employment over the period.
• Shift-share analysis was used to determine
  whether growth/decline was due to economy wide,
  industry wide or local factors.

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Results

• Population
• The Orana region experienced a population decline
  of 1.4 between 1996 and 2001.
• Dubbo was the only centre to increase in
  population (2.9) with major declines in
  Brewarrina (-12), Cobar (-10) and Bourke
  (-6.4).
• The proportion of residents in the prime working
  age brackets (20-49) is comparable to non-Sydney
  NSW.

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Results

• Education
• Vocational qualifications are held by over 16 of
  those aged over 15 years (11.4 with other
  qualifications).
• The level of post-school education in the Orana
  region is below the state average.
• Females are almost twice as likely to possess a
  bachelors degree than are males.
• The most common field of education is engineering
  which is dominated by males.
• Females are most likely to hold
  management/commerce, health or education
  qualifications.

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Results

• Employment
• Unemployment in the Orana region in 2001 was
  7.7, with the highest level of unemployment in
  those aged 15-24 years.
• The agriculture industry is the largest employer
  in Orana, followed by retail and health.
• The manufacturing, wholesale, retail, education,
  health and property and business services
  industries all grew steadily between 1991 and
  2001.
• Managers and administrators are the largest
  occupation group, due to the large number of
  farmers in the region.

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Results

• Indigenous
• The Orana region accounts for 10.4 of all
  indigenous persons in NSW.
• The unemployment rate for indigenous persons in
  Orana is more than three times that of the total
  population (24.4).
• Indigenous persons in the Orana region tend to be
  employed in the health and community services and
  government administration industries, which
  account for almost 30 of indigenous employment.

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Results

• Shift Share Analysis
• Overall, employment in the Orana region is
  heavily concentrated in low growth industries
  such as agriculture and manufacturing.
• However the region has strengths in both these
  industries as well as wholesale trade and
  government administration, where it outperformed
  state and industry averages.
• Employment grew between 1996 and 2001, however
  this was largely driven by state economic growth,
  not local influences.

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How can this information be used?

• Paints a picture of the Orana region
• Research background for
• Investment studies
• Expansion planning
• Policy development or change
• Market and needs analysis

E.g. the WRI has used similar profiles in the
analysis of retail market opportunities in
Lithgow and government service gaps in the
Lachlan region.